The present invention relates to food products and more particularly to a method for preparing low calorie, high fiber-containing pasta products.
It has long been desired to reduce the caloric content of farinaceous products, including, pasta products such as noodles, spaghetti and macaroni. One method for reducing the caloric content which has been utilized is the introduction into the pasta of various non-nutritive and/or calorie-poor additives. U.S. Pat. No. 3,574,634, issued Apr. 13, 1971 to Singer, teaches the use of vital gluten in combination with non-nutritive edible cellulosic filler and an edible vegetable gum binder. The presence of the non-nutritive filler and vegetable gum binder makes the pasta dough of Singer convertible by heating into palatable products of reduced caloric content.
The use of modified polydextrose (poly glucose) in various dietetic foods is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,376,794, issued Apr. 9, 1968 to Griffith et al.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,042,714, issued Aug. 16, 1973 to Torres describes a low calorie farinaceous composition modified polydextrose, proteinaceous material, cellulose derivative, and flour.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,843,818, issued Oct. 22, 1974 to Wren et al., discloses a low calorie pasta comprising polygalactomannan gum, cereal material, vegetable protein and water. Wren et al., achieves low calorie content by increasing the water content and also substituting polygalactomannans for some of the starch in conventional pasta products. Wren et al., also requires relatively high extrusion temperatures of 55.degree. to 98.degree. C.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,992,554, issued Nov. 11, 1976 to Blake, et al., teaches the preparation of a pasta product in which bulk is increased with the addition of certain non-assimilable material together with increased water content. Specifically, Blake et al., uses oil seed endosperm cell wall residue as the non-assimilable component for reducing the calorie content of the pasta.
It is also known to treat pasta dough, or flour being made into pasta dough, with various modifiers, additives and agents for various purposes including color retention, improved nutritive value and greater pasta yield. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,762,931, issued Oct. 2, 1973 to Craig, et al. teaches the addition of edible sulfhydryl reducing substances to alimentary paste for the purposes of reducing moisture content, plasticizing gluten, improving surface characteristics and decreasing drying time of the pasta. Craig et al., does not teach the use of reducing agents to neutralize oxidizers on fibrous materials in pasta.
Known flour treatment agents include, for example,
KBrO.sub.3, KIO.sub.3, azodicarbonamide (H.sub.2 NC(O)N.dbd.NC(O)NH.sub.2), chlorine dioxide, chlorine gas, benzoyl peroxide, ascorbic acid, and L-cysteine. Of these flour treatment agents, only ascorbic acid and L-cysteine are reducing agents, while the remainder of the agents are oxidizing agents.